Oscars Nominations Lack Diversity as Jennifer Lopez, Lupita Nyong'o and Awkwafina Are Snubbed
After a promising kickoff to awards season, there was a notable lack of diversity in the 2020 Oscar nominations.
The nominees were announced early Monday morning by Issa Rae and John Cho, and the first major snubbed came right away.
After garnering several nominations, including at Golden Globe and SAG Awards nods, Jennifer Lopez was shockingly left out of the Best Supporting Actress category for Hustlers. She would’ve been only the eighth Latin-American ever nominated in the category, with Rita Moreno in 1961 and Lupita Nyong’o in 2013 picking up the only wins.
Nyong’o, a Kenyan-Mexican actress born in Mexico, also missed out on a nomination for Best Actress for Us.
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Asian-Americans were also largely shut out of the ceremony, with only South Korea’s Parasite picking up six nominations. The critical darling was nominated in both the Foreign Language and Best Picture categories, with director Bong Joon-ho also making the Best Director list. The film did make history as the only South Korean film to be nominated for Best Picture and Best Foreign Language Film.
But there was no love for Lulu Wang’s The Farewell, a heartwarming story featuring Awkwafina in her first leading role. She won the Golden Globe for best actress in a motion picture comedy earlier this year.
Black actors were also almost completely left out of the race, with only Cynthia Erivo picking up an acting nomination for Harriet. Other snubbed potential nominees included Eddie Murphy for Netflix’s Dolemite Is My Name and Jamie Foxx for Just Mercy.
Erivo was also nominated for Best Original Song thanks to Harriet‘s “Stand Up.”
While no Latinos were nominated in the acting categories this year, Spanish actor Antonio Banderas was honored in the Best Actor category for his work in Pedro Almodóvar’s Pain and Glory.
#OscarsSoWhite first began trending in 2015 after the Academy came under fire for failing to nominate any actors of color for the second year in a row. Well-known Hollywood black stars like Spike Lee and Jada Pinkett Smith skipped the 88th annual awards in response.
The Academy has since made strides to diversify its voting body, inviting a record 683 new members the following year.
The 92nd Annual Academy Awards will air live from the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood on Feb. 9 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.
